Monthly Archives: December 2015

From: TheRecord.com

Waterloo Region Record

The Ontario Convenience Store Association recently released the results from its third annual study aimed at understanding and escalating awareness surrounding the market share of untaxed cigarettes.

An independent research firm collected at least 150 cigarette butt samples from 133 sites across Ontario throughout October to determine the usage of contraband products. The research showed about 22 per cent of cigarette butts discarded — at locations such as public schools, hospitals and government buildings — were black-market cigarettes.

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From: Express & Star

A father-of-four is to be extradited to France to serve a two-year jail sentence for a major tobacco smuggling conspiracy

Ibrar Shah, aged 38, was allegedly involved in a plot in 2006 to smuggle a lorry load of cigarettes over the border from Spain.

He was convicted in his absence by a French court and sentenced to a two-year jail term and 600,000 euro fine.

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Editor’s Note: Counterfeits kill.

From: Irish Times

UK organisation urges drinkers to be cautious of fake booze in the run-up to New Year’s Eve

UK authorities have urged drinkers to be cautious of fake booze in the run-up to New Year’s Eve. File photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Drinkers planning to celebrate the new year with their favourite tipple risk blindness or even death if they buy fake alcoholic drinks, the UK’s Trading Standards body has warned.

Hundreds of thousands of litres of counterfeit booze have been seized in the run-up to the festive season, the Local Government Association (LGA) said, as officials try to quash the billion-pound bootleg alcohol industry and keep revellers safe.

From: Latin Correspondent

by Eana Maniebo

A truck full of undocumented cigarettes was caught during the run-up to Christmas by Brazilian border police on the outskirts of Curitiba, a city in state of Paraná on the Paraguayan border.

The truck was found carrying 1.05 million packs of cigarettes with an estimated worth of $1.2 billion.

The vehicle reportedly came from Guiaira, Paraguay, and the illegal goods were supposed to be delivered to the Port of Santos, Brazil’s largest port. According to the Federal Tax Administration, the drivers presented false documents stating that they were delivering soybeans grown in Paraguay.

From: Vietnam Economic Times

Conference hears that many smuggled packs of Jet and Hero cigarettes contain Coumarin, a fragrant organic chemical compound.

Son Ho

Mr. Vu Van Cuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Tobacco Association, told a conference on smuggling, transporting, and illegally trading cigarettes that large amounts of Coumarin, a fragrant organic chemical compound in the benzopyrone chemical class, has been found in smuggled cigarette packs bearing the Jet and Hero brand names. Coumarin can cause infertility and has a major effect on human health.